amateur headshot II: the grey strikes back

The last time I produced a headshot photo, it was because I got a telephone call that woke me up on a Saturday morning saying one was needed for the brochure for a conference where I was presenting a workshop -- and they needed the photo within two hours. I didn't have one, so I rolled out of bed, put on a shirt and some mascara, stood in my hallway, and held up my digital camera in front of me until I managed to get a photo that actually included my face. I've been using it as my headshot ever since:

That was in 2001, I think, and the years intervening have left their mark on me such that I now look like this:

or this:

These were taken by my honey in the back yard this morning, because I need to submit a headshot to one of my publishers tomorrow. I think I'll end up sending the second one. I like the glint of mischief in the first one, but the neighbor's cinderblocks in the background, while adding a note of realism, probably aren't headshot material.

Vanity, vanity, all is vanity ...